Double DNF for McGuinness.

The joy of announcing a deal with the HM Plant Honda team for 2006 days earlier was followed by disappointment for John McGuinness as he was forced to retire from both races of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship finale at Brands Hatch.

Saturday's opening qualifying session had been promising for the Vitrans Racing rider who posted the 14th fastest time in a session which saw the fastest ever motorcycle lap of the circuit. However, things went awry in the second session when a combination of not getting the best out of his qualifying tyre and being baulked by riders prevented him from going any higher. Despite setting the same time in the afternoon as he had in the morning, McGuinness dropped back to 19th on the grid and a fifth row start for the two races.

A steady start in the first race saw McGuinness hold his position, but a lack of confidence on the front tyre of his Honda saw him retire on the fifth lap. The second race was a similar story as he made he good start to be dicing for points before retiring on lap four after dropping back out of the top 20.

"I really don't know what to say about the weekend, it's been one to forget for definite," he said. "I don't know why but I just had no confidence in the bike in either race and I felt like I was going to crash at every single corner. Although practice wasn't the greatest I felt that points were a possibility but as soon as I tried to up the pace in the races, I was nearly off the machine.

"I feel really sorry for all of the guys in the team as they've worked their backsides off all weekend and I couldn't repay them with a result. I feel like I've let them down but if I'd have carried on in each race, I'd have crashed without question. It's certainly been a rollercoaster year with the wins at the TT and Ulster being the obvious highlights but the short circuit campaign has been a bit of disaster.

"Obviously, the change in teams didn't help so I'm looking forward to a bit of a break before returning stronger in 2006. The deal with HM Plant Honda is brilliant at this stage in my career and I want to prove to everyone that John McGuinness still has a lot to offer."